Only For The Future
by KMchase
Summary: Now you can read what might have been! This is Jumping For Joy In Pink Bunny Slippers before it had anything to do with bunnies or slippers. Set in the future with my ever favorite lovehate theme!
1. Waste Of A Summer

Disclaimer: No, as much as I wish I did, I do not own Harry Potter. Anything you recognize from the books belongs to JKR, and anything stupid probably belongs to me.

Now that that's over... Please R&R. I accept flames, but I dunno how much good it'll do :)

In this chapter I'm setting the the scene for the story. Hopefully the next chapter will be more interesting. Keep an eye out for updates!

*******

Fifteen years ago, two best friends were sitting together in a kitchen. They both had infant babies in their arms, and were talking over evening coffee. Then, without warning, there was a crack, and a flash of lightning lit the house. It had been aimed for the two women, but instead, it hit the babies. It pushed the two friends apart as it hit. They were both thrown backward onto the floor; one would never rise again. To this day, no one knows why it happened, but it is still said that the two children have a bond, as a result of that night...

*****

... The train rattled along towards King's Cross, and most of the compartments were filled up, except one. Dan Potter and his three best friends walked toward it and stuck their heads in.

     "Hello, girls, mind if we join you? This is they only compartment left."

     One of the girls inside nodded her head, and the boys walked in and sat down. Dan surveyed the now full compartment, and wondered what the coming summer would have in store for him. He was the son of the famous Harry Potter, and was the "spitting image" of him. Dan knew full well about the prophecy placed upon his father, but for the most part, they still lived relatively normal lives. Harry had grown up in a childhood with no parents and by no means had had a normal life. Dan himself had no mum (she had died under mysterious circumstances shortly after he was born), so Harry tried quite hard not to let his job as an auror or anything else get in the way of their father-son relationship.

They had lots of friends in the wizarding world. Harry was still in touch with his old friends from school, Ron and Hermione, who were now married with three kids. The youngest was named Rush. He was Dan's age, and they were good friends. Rush was sitting on Dan's left side now, on the train, talking with Thien Malfoy, one of Dan's other good friends. Harry and Thien's father Draco had been enemies for most of their years at Hogwarts, but when Voldemort killed Draco's father, Draco and Harry teamed up against him, and came to be friends. Thien and Dan had met at Hogwarts, and become fast friends. 

To Dan's other side was his best friend, Sirius Black II. The original Sirius had been killed when Harry had been fifteen, by his own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange/Black. Bellatrix had a son, Bailey Black. Bailey was older than Harry; about ten years older, in fact. When Bailey was a child, Bellatrix didn't care in the slightest what her son did. She was too busy carrying out Voldemort's orders. Luckily, Sirius had been a big influence Bailey. When Bailey was out of the house, which was often, it was likely he could be found with Sirius, wherever he was. When Sirius was captured and accused of murder, a then nine-year-old Bailey didn't believe that Sirius would do anything like that. Twelve years later, word of Sirius's escape from Azkaban got out, and Bailey immediately began to search for him. The fact that Bailey never managed to find Sirius was probably good, because it meant that Sirius had a good cover. Shortly after she murdered Sirius, Bellatrix got divorced, and changed her name back to Black, therefore changing Bailey's name to Black as well. Bailey took no more time in moving out and getting married. His wife had died soon after little Sirius was born. In that way, Dan and Sirius were in the same boat. Like Dan, Sirius had never known his mum either, but he felt no real hole for her in his heart. From his father's descriptions of her, Sirius got the feeling that she wasn't a very remarkable character anyway.

According to Harry, Dan and Sirius were a lot like Harry's father, James, and the original Sirius. They had been best friends for as long as they could remember, and were known all over the school for their pranking and trying to break the school record number of detentions.

Looking across from him, Dan saw the real reason he had wanted to sit in this compartment. Her name was Kate Longden, and she was a fellow Gryffindor. She had medium length dirty blonde hair, and stormy blue eyes. She wasn't strikingly beautiful, just a bit above average. Besides, it was something else besides her physical features that made her different to Dan. Ever since first year, they had sort of been enemies. The original enmity between them had arisen after a certain experience which ended in Kate's hair being turned Slytherin colors. It hadn't exactly been an accident, and Kate had gotten her revenge. This resulted in mutual dislike, until Dan had fallen for her in fourth year. He made it very clear that he liked her by asking her out over fifty times in the past two years. She had made it very clear that she did _not_ like him, by turning him down every one of those times. The Levans' and Rush's family, the Weasleys, were old friends, which made her and Rush quite well acquainted. Kate thought of him as the brother she'd never had, but the fact that Rush was one of Dan's best friends made interaction between Dan and herself almost impossible to avoid, although she would have preferred it that way. She tolerated him at times, but that was as far as it went. Most of the time, she expressed a strong-dislike-approaching-hate attitude toward him. She was not without further reason for this dislike either. In addition to the hair incident, she thought Dan was way too big headed,. He loved to show off for her and play the hero in every situation. Everyone just liked him for his jet black, unruly hair, chocolate brown eyes, and the fact that he played Seeker in Quidditch. Kate being a fellow Quidditch player herself (a Chaser), this did not impress her. The one piece of good that she _could_ find in him was that he was wicked persistent, even though she was not overly pretty or popular. However, Dan did not know she thought this, and she did not plan to tell him.

Presently, she was trying to ignore the way Dan kept glancing at her, by talking to her friends, Ellie Grayer and Rae Simmons, who was Thien's girlfriend. Their conversation was interrupted by a platinum blonde Ravenclaw prefect, who poked her head into the compartment, letting everyone know that they would be arriving at Kings Cross in a half-hour or so. She turned her back and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Nice legs on that one," Sirius said, staring after her. Ellie coughed something that sounded like a cross between "ditz" and a slightly more insulting comment. Sirius gave her a scandalized look. Rush, the self-proclaimed peace keeper, saw a fight coming on, and quickly changed the subject.

"Did you get those invitations I sent you?" he asked to the general public.

"Yes," everyone said together. This caused quite an uproar. The invites were to Rush's brother Arran's wedding. Apparently, the boys had not told the girls that they had been invited, and vice versa. Of course, Rae was overjoyed to know that she'd be seeing Thien again over the summer, and Sirius began asking whether or not there would be any cute girls there. Ellie was busy telling him off, leaving Kate to talk to Dan about the wedding. She just glared at him, and turned to Rush. 

"That reminds me," she said. "My friend Lian's coming in a week before the wedding, and we'll probably be at your house later that day."

Before Rush could say anything, Dan said,

"You'll be at Rush's a week before Arran's wedding?"

"Yes..."

Dan had a huge smile on his face. That smile was widely known as his "pranking smile" because he often had it pasted onto his face when he was thinking about a particularly nasty new prank to play on someone.

"I will be too! Stuck with you for a whole two weeks, in the summer..." Dan said, smiling even wider. 

"Wait, I have to waste two weeks of my summer with _you_?" she asked disbelievingly.

Ellie smiled over at Kate.

"Sucks for you," she said, still smiling. She loved to see her friend ticked off by Dan, because that meant she couldn't ignore him, and hating him was the only suitable alternative she could come up with. 

"Would all prefects please report to the prefects compartment immediately," came a magically magnified voice. Kate and Dan both stood up. They were the prefects for their year, much to Kate's dismay. She had wondered how in the world Dan had become a prefect, but when you thought about it, he had the best grades out of the Gryffindor boys, and the teachers hoped it would help turn him responsible.

"See you when we get there then?" Rae said.

"Meet you at the barrier?" Kate asked.

"Sure," Rae answered, as Kate and Dan left the compartment. She walked slightly ahead of him on the way there. Suddenly, another compartment door opened, and out stepped Vance VonSeverin. Now, Kate found herself in between the two people she least wanted to be around. Vance looked at her with his signature sneer.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"We were going to the prefects compartment, VonSmell, and you're in the way. We'd especially appreciate it if you'd vacate the area so we can get through."

Vance didn't say anything for a moment, and Dan took advantage of the silence by saying,

"Here let me put it in terms you can understand. Move your arse!"

He took Kate by the arm and pushed past Vance, dragging her with him. As soon as Vance was behind them, she shook him off.

"Hey, I saved you from a sticky situation. You should be thanking me," he protested, tilting his head slightly and running a hand through his hair.

"Well, we can add that to the list of things you're good at then: showing off, being a prick who needs a serious head deflation, and coming up with stupid comments" she said sarcastically, as she pushed open the door to the prefect compartment.

*******

That's it for this chapter. I know Dan's being a bit of an idiot, and that'll probably be true for a while, but hopefully not forever!

Next chapter will be at Rush's house. Who knows what kind of chaos could ensue!


	2. The Gnome Toss

Disclaimer: No, as much as I wish I did, I do not own Harry Potter. Anything you recognize from the books belongs to JKR, and anything stupid probably belongs to me.

UPDATED:: Thanks to my reviewers of the first chapter!

**padfoot-dreamer** :: Wow! I was wondering how long it would take for someone to pick up on why I named him Dan. I was at a loss for what to name him for quite a while. One night I was watching CoS and I was like, I should name him Dan...

**a hopeful writer** and **smilie:-)chick **:: I'm really glad you guys like my fic! Hopefully there will be another update soon!

**s h i n i n g m e a d o w1** :: Thanks for the positive feedback! I was thinking Dan's mother should be an OC so that there would be no hard feelings for killing her off. I'm not sure what her name will be yet, but she definitely WON'T be Cho Chang! Sorry to any Cho fans, but the girl really pisses me off...

**James-Padfoot** :: I'm a HUGE L/J fan, so the Lily/James love/hate was what exactly what I was going for... Glad you noticed the resemblance!!!!  

******

"Rush!!!!" Kate leapt out of the silver Toyota Camry parked in the drive, and fairly tackled Rush. Almost as quickly as she had hugged him, she let go of him. 

"This is my friend Lian, from Surrey." She gestured towards the brown haired girl who had followed her out of the car.

"Lian, this is Rush... oh..." she had just noticed someone else standing next Rush. "...And this is Dan Potter." There was a definite change in the tone of her voice as she said the last part of this sentence. 

Lian nodded and smiled at them both anyway. There was a slight silence as the two boys nodded back.

"So... I'll show her where we stay then?" Kate said to Rush.

"Sounds good."

Rush and Dan helped the girls unload their luggage from the trunk of Kate's car, and Kate lead Lian into the house and up the many stairs towards the guest bedroom. It felt good to be back at the Burrow. Rush had lived there since he was born, as had his father before him. Kate felt like she lived there as well, having spent so much time with Rush's family as a kid. As they continued to head upward, Kate realized that Dan hadn't said a word to her yet. Usually he would have made some witty greeting, but he had remained quiet. This struck Kate as odd, but maybe he had finally gotten the hint she'd been trying to get across; that he should definitely shut up for a while.

"Well, this is it," said Kate as they reached the top floor and pushed open the first door to the left. 

"Wow, it doesn't seem this roomy from the outside," said Lian. Kate smiled and put her suitcase down on a bed.

"Magic will do that to you," she said. "Come on. I'll give you a tour of the place before dinner."

Lian followed Kate around Rush's house, Kate pointing out which rooms were which. They were passing through the hall on the third floor when Dan stepped out of Rush's room. He took one look at the girls, and put his arm around Kate's shoulders. 

"I don't believe I've given you a proper welcome, have I?" he said in a mock thoughtful tone.

"Not that I care," she said, trying to shake him off.

"Hit me with insults if you want, but I know that deep down, you can't resist me!" he said and tilted his head to one side. Kate was about to say something when Rush walked out into the hall. Dan glanced at him, and Kate took advantage of this momentary lapse in concentration. She stepped on Dan's foot, causing him to let go of her.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, although it was kind of a rhetorical question, considering that fact that they both knew the answer. Rush just looked at them, not even bothering to ask. Before the scene became more violent, Rush said,

"Lets go downstairs and get some dinner." 

Kate gave Dan one last glare and followed Rush down the stairs. As soon as she arrived in the kitchen, a blur of bushy, short brown hair was upon Kate, giving her a hug.

"Kate! How nice to see you! I had no idea you'd arrived."

"Hi Mrs. Weasley. It's nice to see you too. We only arrived a bit ago, and I don't believe you've met my friend Lian," Kate said. "She's from Surrey, and she's a Mug-- non-witch. Lian, this is Mrs. Weasley."

Lian smiled, shook Mrs. Weasley's hand, and "Nice to meet you's" were exchanged.

"I've got dinner on the table for everyone!" Mrs. Weasley said and led everyone into the kitchen. They all sat down at the table and began to eat Mrs. Weasley's amazing feast.

When dinner was finished, Mrs. Weasley began magicking dishes into the sink. Kate watched her for a moment, and then, having been taught the rules of a good guest, said,

"Anything I can do to help, Mrs. Weasley?"

At this Dan could not resist mumbling,

"coughSuckupcough"

Kate stepped on his foot again. He acquired a pained expression but didn't say anything else. However, Mrs. Weasley had seen the little argument, and thought about Rush's descriptions of their frequent disagreements. _They sound just like Ron and I when we were their age, and we ended up getting married. They could be great friends if they would just stop and see how the other feels..._

"You know, the gardens do need de-gnoming. I must say they're getting quite out of hand. Rush, why don't you get to know Kate's guest a little better? You can show her how to de-gnome the front garden. Kate and Dan, why don't you two take care of the back gardens?"

Dan grinned at Kate; she glared back and pushed open the back door. This had not been a good idea for Mrs. Weasley to ask the two of them to work _together_. Plus, Kate didn't know how to de-gnome, but she was not about to tell Dan that.

Meanwhile, Dan was silently thanking Mrs. Weasley for making Kate work with him. Suddenly, she stopped walking, and he almost bumped into her. When she didn't start up again, he walked around her and knelt down in front of one of the bushes. He looked up at her to see if she would do the same. She just looked at him, as if observing the procedure. At that moment, an idea occurred to Dan. He got to his feet and said,

"You've got no clue how to de-gnome, have you?"

Kate had not expected him to notice this, but she tried to act unembarrassed. 

"No, which is likely to be the reason I'm standing here instead of doing something productive."

"I'll show you," he said. "Just stick your hands into the bush like this." He reached underneath the lowest branches. "If you grab 'em by the feet, it surprises them and they don't try to bite you as much." He demonstrated by pulling a wriggling gnome out of the bush. "Then, you stand up, and swing it around your head, and when you've got a good rhythm going, you just let go of it, and hope it doesn't hit anything on the way." He swung the gnome over his head, let go, and it flew over the hedge in the distance. He noticed the appalled look on Kate's face and said, "Don't worry about hurting them, they'll recover and be back in a few days."

Kate was still not sure about the whole thing, but she knelt down next to a bush anyway, stuck her hands underneath, and pulled out a gnome. Dan watched her as she did this. She stood up and began to swing the gnome over her head, but it was harder than it looked.

"Here, try putting one hand over the other, like this," Dan said. He gently placed his hands on hers and moved them into the right position. He was surprised that she let him do this. Usually she never would have accepted help from him, or let him touch her for that matter.

Kate was equally surprised at herself, but she let him help her. He actually wasn't being a jerk for once, and she wanted it to stay that way.

"There, now try again," Dan said. Kate swung the gnome over her head, and this time she let go. The gnome flew over the hedge, almost further than Dan's.

"Bloody hell, that was good! Where'd you learn to throw like that?" he asked.

"Being a Chaser comes in handy sometimes," she replied.

They spent the next hour or so having a contest to see who could throw the gnomes the furthest. Kate had caught on quite quickly, and was fair competition. When the garden was almost completely de-gnomed, she said,

"Looks like we've pretty well finished it. Just a few more and we'll be done! I getting pretty good at this de-gnoming stuff."

"I think it's obvious you learned from the best," Dan said and ruffled his hair. Kate did not hear the kidding tone in his voice. She gave him the usual glare and stepped on his foot. Hard. Then she walked off back into the kitchen, leaving Dan to finish off the rest of the gnomes. Dan massaged his foot.

"The same foot three times today," he mumbled. "Maybe I am a prick..."

*****

Kate stormed up the stairs into the guest bedroom. Obviously, Rush and Lian had already finished out front, because Lian was sitting on her bed, reading Gone With The Wind. (A/N: I'll explain this at the end of the chapter.) This was of course her favorite book, and she had made Kate watch the movie with her. Kate had been fascinated at the time; being from an all wizard family, she had never seen a movie before. However, the story line was just too ironic for what had just happened. Lian looked up as Kate stomped in.

"What happened to you," she asked.

"Potter."

"Oh."

Kate had told Lian all about Dan and how much she despised him.

"What did he do to you?"

"Being a prick, just like usual. I can't believe I thought he'd changed! He was being so... so... _normal_ when he was teaching me how to de-gnome, but then he started showing off at having taught me so well! He just can't stop thinking about himself, and it makes me so mad!"

With that, she stormed off into the bathroom to take a shower.

"He's trying to impress her but he just doesn't know how," Lian said to herself. She went back to reading her book, a plan forming in her mind...

********

Ok, I chose Gone With The Wind for Lian to read because she's being modeled after one of my friends, whose favorite book is Gone With The Wind. I've never read the book, but she made me watch the movie with her, so I know the storyline. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the main characters are Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. Rhett is in love with Scarlett, but she's in love with someone else. Even so, Scarlett and Rhett get married, but she still doesn't love him, and he ends up leaving her. There's a bunch of stuff in between (the movie is three and a half hours long) but that's the basics of it. I thought it was really good irony for the Kate/Dan situation.

Warning, the next update might not be till next weekend. If you read my profile, you'll see I'm kinda swamped. Next chapter will be pre Arran's wedding (remember him from the last chapter?), and maybe wedding day.


	3. Pranks, Weddings, and Disasters

Disclaimer :: I still don't own any of Harry Potter, nor do I own the Swiss Alps, or even the hotel described in the Swiss Alps.

******

The rest of the week passed without incident. Kate was avoiding Dan whenever she could, and succeeding surprisingly well. When Dan and Rush would go up to the field behind their house to play some Quidditch, Kate and Lian would stay in the house and read. When Dan and Rush were cramming in some last minute homework before they had to leave for the wedding, Kate would take Lian outside and teach her about Quidditch. It was a kind of cycle.

     A week before the wedding, Kate, Dan, Rush, Lian, and Rush's other older brother Shawn (Arran had not been home all week), piled into Lian's little silver Camry and drove to London-Gatwick airport. They then flew from there to the Zurich airport in Switzerland. The wedding would be held in the Swiss Alps, so they had to rent a car and drive the rest of the way there.

     As they drew closer to their destination, it was hard for them to keep their eyes on the road. They could not stop looking at the Swiss Alps. The beautiful mountain ranges rose high above the road; huge, majestic figures shrouded in mist enfolding the passengers of the car. They snapped pictures every few seconds, in awe of the enormous spectacle.

     Their hotel looked out on the Alps, and each room had an amazing view from the balconies. The rooms were lodge-style, and amazingly comfortable.

     "Wow, this is absolutely amazing!" Kate said, smiling, as she put her bags down and stepped out onto the balcony. Lian followed, with the same awestruck look on her face. This had to be the most amazing place either of them had ever been.

     Everyone got settled in their rooms and then made their way back up to the lobby. The lobby was actually on the top floor, because the hotel sat on the side of a hill. As they emerged from the elevators, they saw the familiar figure of Sirius waiting for them. Everyone exchanged hellos, and then began on the subject of their surroundings.

     "This place is crazy!" Dan was saying as they he led the way to the room he and Sirius would be sharing (Rush was sharing with Shawn). "You know, you can climb out the windows, down the fire staircase, and run around to other people's rooms from the outside!"

* * *

The next morning, Kate and Lian were still asleep at 7:00 AM, and they did not plan on getting up for a few more hours. However, certain other hotel guests had other ideas. Dan and Sirius tiptoed into the room at 7:00 with water pistols behind their backs, and turned on the clock radio. The girls both rolled over and opened their eyes.

     "Come on, leave us alone," Kate said drowsily and pulled the blankets up further. Everything was silent for a moment, while the two boys took out and aimed the water guns. Then, they took aim, and fired. Two streams of water went right into Kate's half open mouth, right on target.

The next step in the sequence of events went extremely fast. She screamed, spit out the water, and leapt out of bed, taking a pillow with her. She glanced between the two boys, and mentally chose one as her target. Dan instinctively turned and ran, with Kate close behind him. Up and down the halls they ran. By the third rotation, Dan began to tire, and Kate caught up to him and began hitting him with the feather pillow she was carrying. He retaliated with his water pistol. Finally, he tripped and fell, pulling Kate down with him. They sat there for a moment, feathers flying all around them. It was like a snowstorm inside a building, like the enchanted ceiling at Hogwarts. 

Sirius and Lian poked their heads around the hotel room door to see who had won the fight. It was hard to tell, since they were both wet and covered in feathers.

"It's lucky the rest of this floor is empty!" Kate exclaimed when she noticed her now feather-covered appearance.

"That's definitely a sexy look on you," said Sirius, laughing.

Kate looked down at herself again, and then across at Dan. She couldn't help smiling.

* * *

A few days later, Rae, Ellie and Thien arrived by portkey in a clearing about a mile away from the hotel. Kate and Lian had used Muggle transport because Lian would not have been able to use a portkey, but since Ellie, Rae, and Thien were witches and wizard, and they lived relatively close to each other, they were able to. Everyone went to meet them. The wedding was only three days away, but no one was really mentioning it. They were too busy "discovering the wonders of Switzerland" as Sirius and Dan had so aptly named it. Kate had gotten back at them for their little wakeup call by taking their broomsticks and replacing them with plain, un-magical look-alikes. The boys had been appalled that anyone would do such a thing, but the fight was now even.

* * *

     The next day, the little group left the hotel in the Alps for their next destination, the wedding site. The wedding was to be outside, near a few cottages, but that was the only civilization for miles. Dense forest and mountains surrounded it. The guests had to arrive at the cottages by gondola. Arran and Lena (the bride) had arranged for everyone to stay three nights in the mountain cottages. 

      The gondola ride up the mountain was quite crowded, since the guests and their luggage were all on board. Kate was sitting by the windows, taking pictures nonstop. Lian had insisted upon standing in the middle. The height of the ride was not agreeing with her.

     "Lian, come here so I can take a picture of you against the scenery!" Kate said and motioned her over.

     "I'm not moving, said Lian stubbornly, and she sat down on top of her suitcase. Kate was about to pull her over to the window, when the gondola docked. The doors opened and everyone lugged their luggage off the car. Lena, Arran, and Shawn were already waiting for them in the station. They led the group to their cottages, which weren't far away. The cottages were like condominiums. Four guests were staying in each. In cottage number 8 were Kate, Lian, Rae, and Ellie. In cottage number 9 were Rush, Dan, Thien, and Sirius. Everyone unpacked, and then had the afternoon before the rehearsal dinner to explore their mountain surroundings. They all decided to go to an overlook, from which you could see for miles into the valleys below the mountains. The view was spectacular and everyone brought their cameras. The group spent the afternoon there, just hanging out.

     The rehearsal went well, and the rehearsal dinner was at a nice restaurant in the main lodge. Everyone went back to their cottages at around 6:30 PM. The boys cabin played Monopoly with real wizard money (Sirius ended up with about five galleons in change) and the girls sat out on their porch and watched the sun sink low into the purple velvet sky. 

* * *

     The day of the wedding dawned clear and cool. However, no one was awake to witness it. The girls in cabin #8 did not wake up until 10:00 AM. They took turns taking showers and fixing each other's hair. Kate was the only bridesmaid out of the four girls in the cabin (since the Arran did not have any sisters, Lena had chosen Kate, who was the closest she could get), but Rae was going to be reading a few words at the wedding. They were both wearing pale lavender, full length dresses of Lena's choosing, and had wreathes of flowers crowning their heads. The other girls dressed in dresses they had brought with them, and put their hair up. By the time they reached the wedding site, the weather had changed dramatically. It was sort of windy and cloudy.

"Looks like a storm's coming," Rae remarked. Some early guests were beginning to gather seemed to have noticed the change too. Rae led the way over to the boys, who were waiting by the chairs that had been set up.

     "Well, aren't we looking fine and flowery today?" said Sirius.

     "Sod off," Kate said grumpily. "It's not my fault that I have be a complete bee magnet all day."

     "I'll keep the bees away," Sirius said, and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "They won't be able to get you up here."

     "You sod! Let me down this instant!" She began to kick her feet. Sirius responded by jumping up and down. 

"I mean it!" she yelled. Sirius jumped higher. The rest of the group was broken into laughter at her plight by now. Sirius took this as initiative, and began to run around the chairs.

"Would you stop it?" she asked, but she couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't like that kind of unappreciative comment while I am trying to save you from being eaten by killer bees!"

"Well, I feel like I'm doing bull riding, and I don't _appreciate_ that!"

     Everyone laughed as Sirius ran around in circles, until he collided with none other than Vance VonSeverin. The laughter stopped abruptly, and Sirius inadvertently dropped Kate. She fell into a heap on the ground, the flower tiara now lying next to her. 

     "Cheating on King Danny are you?" Vance sneered coldly at Kate. She didn't even bother to tell him that she would NEVER date Dan. She just stood up and said, 

     "Too bad _you _don't have anyone to cheat on, VonSmell. I'd be surprised if anyone came within 50 feet of you. You have to wonder how your parents stand that reek," she said coldly.

     "If it weren't for me, you'd-"

     "Hello ladies," Dan interjected as he stepped between them.

     "Need your precious Danny to play bodyguard for you? I had no idea you were so helpless that you needed someone else to fight your battles for you. Too bad you picked someone just as helpless." This was the wrong thing for Vance to say. He had dared insult Kate twice, and she didn't like that at all. This was the last straw for Dan too. Vance had insulted him as well and he now had a reason to get revenge. He strode forward, yelling,

"VonSmell, I'm gonna rip every last hair out of your stinking head!" By this time, he had wrestled him to the ground was and tearing at his dark brown hair.

It took Rush, Sirius, Kate and Ellie to pull Dan off. It looked as though the fight was over when Vance made no move to retaliate, but Kate hadn't got her two cents in yet.

"I'm a prefect, VonSmell, and therefore I don't approve of fighting, but if you ever try to insult me again, I'll make it so that you'll never be able to reproduce!"

Vance sneered at her again, but walked off without further comment. When he was out of earshot, Dan opened up his fist and showed everyone the clump of dark hair in it.

"Yuck, put that down right now!" said Ellie. She looked completely grossed out.

Kate picked up her flower wreath and said, "Gotta go fix this. I'll be right back." She ran inside the girl's cottage to the bathroom. She began to fix the tiara, when the shower curtain moved slightly. _What was that?_ she thought and slowly went towards the curtain. She pulled it back quickly, and screamed. Lena and Shawn were standing inside, in full wedding garb. The shower curtain must have caught under Shawn's foot, because he fell out of the shower onto Kate and put his arm around her neck to steady himself. Lena had managed to grab hold of Shawn's other arm, so he didn't totally fall onto Kate. At this moment, Dan came into the room.

"I just came in to wash the VonSmell filth off my hands when I heard you... what are you doing?" He trailed off when he noticed the oddity of the spectacle before him. Lena in the shower, in her wedding dress, Shawn half in half out, with a look of surprise on his face, and Kate holding Shawn up, wearing an expression of confusion. Dan took a moment to digest what he was seeing and, after failing to make an explanation for it, asked,

"What's going on?"

"I'd like to know the same thing," said Kate, still slightly dazed. Shawn took his other leg out of the shower and Lena sighed.

"I suppose we'd better tell them then," she said. Shawn nodded.

"I wish I weren't marrying Arran. I'm not in love with him."

Dan's jaw dropped about six inches. When he did not shut it, Kate reached up and shut it for him. Then she looked quizzically at Shawn.

"No no, I'm not in love with him either. See, I was in the year younger than Arran when we were in school. I was already good friends with Shawn when Arran asked me out. I figured, why not? He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I didn't worry about it lasting more than a few months. The trouble was, it did. Even after he left school, he wrote to me every day. I just didn't have the heart to dump him, because I knew he really liked me. I just wrote back less and less, and hoped he'd forget about me or meet some other girl. But then he dropped the bomb. We wrote to me asking me to marry him. I don't know what I was thinking, but I just scribbled down a 'Yes,' and sent it back. I was really in trouble then. Since Shawn and I are friends, and Shawn and Arran are brothers, Shawn agreed to try and help me out of this mess. We hid in here because we thought this would be the one place no one would look for us."

"Well that plan's ruined," Shawn said ruefully.

"What are we going to do now?" Lena asked.

"Lena? Where are you?" came a voice.

"Well, you'd better get out of here," said Kate. "Someone's looking for you."

"Here, you can go out the window," said Dan hurriedly and opened the small window. For only the second time in their lives, Kate and Dan cooperated to held Lena and Shawn out of the window, just as Arran came around the corner.

"Quick, pretend you're fixing your hair or something," Kate whispered. Dan gave her a look. His hair pretty much fixed itself. He had the famous "Potter hair," and there was nothing much he could do with it to make it look different. However, desperate times called for desperate measures. Arran walked into the bathroom as Kate re-hairpinned her tiara and Dan made a frantic effort to smooth down his hair.

"Have either of you seen Lena?"

"No!" they both answered, a bit too quickly.

"I mean, I haven't seen her since we first got here," Kate recovered.

"Well, we'd better find her, because it's time for us to get married!" Arran said, and got a dreamy sort of expression on his face. Kate and Dan tried their best to suppress their laughter, and followed him out of the room.

* * *

Just as Lena was beginning to walk down the aisle, the wind picked up even more. It was now gusting more frequently, and the sky was looking darker. Still, the ceremony went on. An air of apprehension hung over both Kate and Dan, as if they were expecting some bomb to go off at any moment. They held their breaths when it came time for the vows. The priest was saying,

"Do you, Arran Weasley, take Lena Elan to be your lawful wedded wife?"

"I do," said Arran happily.

"And do you, Lena Elan, take Arran Weasley to be your lawful wedded husband?"

What Lena was going to say, however, was never known, because at that moment, lightning struck, and she crumpled, limp, to the ground. Everyone screamed and ran towards the lodge or the nearest cottage. That is, everyone except Dan, Sirius and Kate.

"That was no ordinary lightning, it was magic, which means it had a purpose," Dan said hurriedly.

"Well, there's your purpose." Sirius pointed to a hooded figure rushing toward Lena.

"C'mon," Kate said, and began to run forwards, in the direction of Lena and the hooded figure. The boys followed, and when the figure saw them coming, it jumped up, trying to take Lena with it.

"Put her down!" shouted Dan and ran at it. It immediately began running the other way. Dan continued to run after it as it headed into the forest beyond. Kate and Sirius followed. The branches of the trees ripped and tore at their clothes as they ran. They finally caught up with the hooded figure when it tripped over a tree root.

"Well," said Dan, out of breath, "seems you've failed your mission this time. Voldemort won't be too happy, now will he? What did you want with Lena Elan anyway?"

"That is not for you to know," came a voice from inside the hood. It was vaguely familiar to Dan, but he could not place where he knew it from. "Now, if I cannot have the girl, the least I can do is bring _Lord_ Voldemort these three spies."

He drew his wand and raised it over his head... 

*******

Wow, cliffhanger! Look out for the next chapter soon, and please review! 


	4. Death Eater in the Darkness

Disclaimer :: Still don't own anything you recognize from Harry Potter, or from anywhere else for that matter.

With that, let the chapter begin!

****

"RUN!" shouted Sirius. No one needed to be told twice. All three sprinted forward; the Death Eater's spell narrowly missing Dan. For what seemed like an hour, they ran blindly, dodging spells. They could not try to protect themselves, for fear of hitting each other. As they ran, the storm broke, making it hard to see where they were going. They could only hope it also made it harder for the Death Eater to see where he was aiming.

"_Crucio_!" The Death Eater missed again.

"_Impedimenta_!" Another miss. _Damn_, thought Dan. He didn't know how long they could keep running before one of them was hit.

"_Imperio_!" Everyone was still on their feet.

"_Stupefy_!" There was a loud thud somewhere behind Dan that told him they'd lost a member of their party. Without even thinking, he turned around to see Kate lying, crumpled, on the ground. The Death Eater was advancing on her, stooping down...

"_Impedimenta_!" came Sirius's voice. In slow motion, as if time had slowed down the Death Eater was blasted backwards. When he hit the ground, time sped up again. It didn't take long for him to recover, and soon he was back on his feet. Dan had his wand out now (luckily he carried it with him even in the summer), holding the Death Eater off while Sirius sprinted forward, scooped Kate up into his arms, and ran. Dan stood for a moment, as if frozen. He did not want to start a duel; it was too risky in the rain. He was already soaking wet and could hardly see. On the other hand, he didn't want to run, leaving himself vulnerable.

"_Expelliarmus_!" yelled the Death Eater. In that moment, Dan made his decision. He dodged the spell and ran, zigzagging between the trees, making himself harder to aim at. After what seemed like forever, they came into a clearing. The overlook was just ahead. Sirius was gently putting Kate onto a bench when Dan came storming through the trees, closely pursued by the Death Eater.

"Ha, I've got you cornered now, boy!" The Death Eater advanced on Dan, who was now at the overlook railing. "You can't run anymore." Dan took a few discrete steps to the side. For every step the Death Eater took, Dan took two to the side. As he watched, Sirius realized what Dan was doing. The Death Eater thought he had Dan now, and was not paying attention to what was happening. He continued to advance, and Dan continued to step away, until they had made a complete circle. Now it was the Death Eater with his back up against the railing. He raised his wand,

"Stu—" He never finished his spell, because at that moment, Sirius lunged at him, pushing him right over the edge of the railing. He rolled a few feet and out of sight. The two boys peered over the edge of the railing.

"Do you think he's dead?" Sirius asked.

"No, but we're at quite an altitude. No one can endure a fall like that without sustaining some injuries." Dan answered solemnly. Sirius grinned at him.

"You sound just like McGonagall," he said, referring to their aging Transfiguration professor. Dan grinned back, and turned to Kate. She had not yet regained conciousness.

"We've got to get her back to the cabins. She'll probably need medical attention." Dan said. Sirius nodded in agreement. Dan picked her up. As he looked at her, he tried not to think whether or not she would step on his foot again when she heard he had carried her. He tried to concentrate on how good it felt to have her in his arms. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, even though her hair was soaked and she was unconscious. This was the way she was, really. Peaceful and beautiful. He'd never seen her angry at anyone, besides himself. If she had one ounce of meanness in her, she always saved it for him. Even though this was the case, she would always stay beautiful in his mind. Suddenly, he noticed Sirius looking at him. He shook his head and said,

"Come on, I think it's a pretty long way back."

* * *

     Twenty minutes later, Dan and Sirius trudged into the main lodge. They took Kate straight to the presiding medi-witch, whose quarters were in the back of the lodge. Dan put her on a bed, and the medi-witch, who said her name was Mademoiselle C'estine (A/N: I'm not good at French names) and whose French accent was quite thick, came over to take a look at her.

     "Ah," she said after a moment. "Stunning spell eh?"

     Dan and Sirius both nodded.

     "Ze 'as some cuts and bruises, but zey will 'eal. Now, she needs rest. She will be alright in a few days. What 'appened?"

     "In short, there was a Death Eater at the wedding, and she was attacked," Dan explained.

     "Ahhhhhhh," said Mademoiselle C'estine knowingly. "Second one tonight." The boys noticed a figure in the bed next to Kate's. They presumed this to be Lena, and hoped she would recover as well.

     When they were satisfied that Kate would be alright, they left the room. It was obvious that someone had seen them come into the lodge, because when they came out of the medi-ward, there was a crowd waiting for them, showering them with questions and demands for explanation.

     "What happened?"

     "Where'd the Death Eater go?"

     "Did anyone die?"

     They ignored all the questions being thrown at them. They were both extremely wet and tired, and did not particularly want to be bothered. They trudged back out into the rain, which had not yet let up, and returned to their cabin. They found that Rush, Lian, Rae, and Ellie were all there when they got back. They had been talking, but became quiet when they saw Dan and Sirius standing in the doorway. Rush stood up.

     "There you are," he said in relief. "We sent Thien out to see if you were at the lodge. What happened? Where's Kate?"

     "In the medi-ward," said Dan as he flopped down into a chair. "She was stunned, but the medi-witch says she'll be ok."

     "Did you get rid of that Death Eater?" asked Ellie.

     "Temporarily."

     "It's a good thing neither of you were hurt," said Rae. "Lena's going to be ok, just out of commission for a day or two. What happened after we all went inside? We felt so bad that we didn't stay and help."

     Dan and Sirius had no choice but to relate their story to their friends. They all listened and watched attentively throughout. The story had just ended when Thien came in. He informed the group that there had been no further developments on the attacks, but for everyone to keep a lookout for anything suspicious. Soon after, the girls left for their cabin, and the boys started getting ready to go to sleep. Everyone but Dan, that is. He was still thinking about what had happened that night.

     "She could have died. Or worse," he said, almost to himself. Sirius overheard.

     "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, she's going to be ok," he said.

     "Yeah, because you were quick enough to stop that Death Eater. I hate to think what he would have done to her if you hadn't been there," said Dan ruefully.

     "There's no way you can tell. What's done is done, and she's alright. That's all that really matters."

     Dan wasn't really in the mood to argue with Sirius at the moment. He didn't reply, just crossed the room to get his pajamas out of his suitcase.

* * *

        _Where am I? _thought Kate as she sat upright. _This is weird, I don't remember ever seeing this place before_, she sat up straighter, until a pain in her back stopped her short. _Ow! I definitely don't remember that! _She settled back down a bit and looked around her. It looked like she was in a smaller version of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. There were beds along the wall, and an office for the medi-witch or wizard. She wondered what had happened, why she was there. She looked around for someone she could ask, and she saw that the next bed over was also occupied. The curtains around it were drawn, but Kate wondered who occupied it. 

She heard voices from outside the door and in came a young women, dressed in a medi-witch's clothes.

"Yes, you may see 'er now, but only for a short time," she was saying, in a thick French accent. She was talking to someone behind her, and as they rounded the corner, Kate saw who it was. And he was not someone Kate wanted to see in her present state. It was Dan. He came over to her and pulled up a chair.

"Hey, how are you?" he asked.

"Fine."

"Listen, everybody else will be along in a bit," he said, sensing that she didn't want to be alone with him. "I just wanted to see if you were awake yet."

Somehow Kate didn't think this was the only reason he had come alone, but she didn't give him a chance for further explanation.

"What happened to me?" she asked. "I mean, I remember Lena being attacked and the Death Eater chasing us through the forest, but what happened then? Did I black out or something?"

"You were hit by a stunning spell. Sirius stopped the Death Eater from... doing whatever it was he was going to do to you and saved you."

"That's it? Sirius just got rid of him?"

"No, he chased us to the overlook, and when he tried to corner us, we pushed him over the edge. We're not sure what happened to him, but he hasn't been back, that's for sure."

"What happened to Lena?"

"She's alright. In fact, she's right over there, in the bed next to you."

"Oooohhh, _that's_ who that is. Good, I'm glad she's ok."

At that moment, the rest of the group came noisily into the medi-ward.

"Kate!" Rae squealed and hugged her.

"Hey everyone," Kate said as she hugged back. Everyone pulled up chairs or made themselves comfortable on the bed next to her.

"So, did you hear all about what happened last night?" asked Ellie.

"Dan and I were just talking about that."

"Ooooooh! You know he carried you..."

*****

The plot's pickin' up! Keep a lookout for more updates. The next chapter will be the beginning of the gang's final year at Hogwarts!

When I started writing this fanfic, (which was a long time before I actually posted it) I promised myself that I wouldn't ask my readers for a certain number of reviews before posting the next chapter. Well, I haven't had ANY reviewers since CHAPTER 1!!!! So please, please, pretty please review! For me? I WILL take your suggestions, and I WILL write you a reply at the beginning of the next update (you can see chapter 2 for examples). Come on, you know you love me, and if you review my fic I'll review yours!

     Pink Bunny Slippers,

          +*KM*+


	5. Ah, The Wonders Of Jello

Ok, **a hopeful writer** reviewed (thank you soooooooo much for doing so!) and told me that my characters are kind of confusing. Well, I reread the fic and realized that, yeah, they are a bit confusing. Soooooo, I've outlined them here so that you can help get to know them better, since they're basically all OCs.

**Major Characters::**

Dan Potter- Harry's son, 17 yrs old, Gryffindor, best friend to Sirius, likes Kate

Kate Longden- New character, 17, Gryffindor, (mostly) hates Dan

Sirius Black II- I think it would be third cousin to the original Sirius... hmmm... well, if you want to read more about how Sirius and the original Sirius are related, it's all outlined in chapter 1. Anyways, he's 17, and in Gryffindor. He and Dan are best friends

Rush Weasley- Youngest of three sons of Ron and Hermione, 17, Gryffindor, good friend of Dan's, childhood friend of Kate's

Thien Malfoy- Draco (turned good)'s son, 17, Ravenclaw, good friend of Dan's, you can read more about how Dan came to be friends with Thien in chapter 1

Ellie Grayer- New character, 17, Gryffindor, good friend of Kate's, wild personality, which will show up later

Rae Simmons- New character, 17, Gryffindor, good friend of Kate's, Thien's girlfriend

Lian Theller- New character, 17, does not go to Hogwarts, Kate's best Muggle friend

**Other Minor Characters::**

Arran- Rush's oldest brother

Shawn- Rush's older brother

Lena- Arran's fiancée, Shawn's friend

Well, there ya go. Hope that helped a little. Review me if you have any other questions, and I'll be glad to answer them for you.

Disclaimer:: Nope, I still don't own anything you recognize from HP. That's all I have to say. EXCEPT-

**_!!REVIEW!!_**

Please! Really, it's not like it's brain surgery, all you have to do is type a few words. If you loved it, tell me! If you hated it, tell me! Even if you have no opinion, TELL ME! Hey, I wanna know what you think!

OK, this is craziness. Now I'll just stop typing and you can read the chapter.

****

"Wow, congratulations!" Rae squealed.

     "Thanks!"

     Kate was showing off her shiny new Head Girl badge to Ellie and Rae. It was September 1, and they were standing on platform 9 ¾, about to start their seventh and final year at Hogwarts. After the almost-wedding, the remainder of August had passed quickly. Kate and Lena had both fully recovered, and everything was pretty much back to normal. A few days after returning home, Kate had said goodbye to Lian, and she had gone back to her home in Surrey. Shortly after that, Kate had gotten the letter informing her that she would be Head Girl. After that, the remaining week before school had been filled with getting ready for school. Kate wanted her last year to be the best, and now here they were, about to dive right into it.

     "I'll find us a compartment," said Rae.

     "Alright, we'll get the trunks," said Kate.

     Meanwhile, Dan was trying to hide from his friends. The embarrassment was, of course, inevitable, but he was trying to delay it to think of something to say when his friends found him. At the moment, he was hiding behind a middle-aged man, who gave him more than ample room to hide. The man was telling his fourth-year daughter not to get into any trouble that year, and set a good example for the younger kids. Dan rolled his eyes and slipped away to find a hiding spot that didn't lecture so much. Of course, just as he was about to take refuge in the Hogwarts Express, Sirius caught up to him. He groaned inwardly.

     "Dan! Where ya' – what the HELL is that?" Sirius was pointing at Dan's chest. Dan rolled his eyes for the second time in two minutes, and muttered,

     "Mmmheaby."

     "Well it's great that you learned how to speak Greek, but could you use English for those of us who don't know what you're talking about?" Sirius said sarcastically and smiled. Dan sighed.

     "I'm – Head – Boy," he said, separating his words.

     "WHAT?" Sirius yelled as though a bomb had just gone off. Half the platform turned to look at them. 

     "Shhh! Not so loud! It's not like I wanted the job, McGonagall just gave it to me. I tried to turn it down, I really did, but she seemed to think I was the only one who would be able to do it. I dunno _why_ she would think that. She must have Dumbledore helping her. He always had his reasons for why he chose certain people. But man it sucks to be me," said Dan. Since Professor Albus Dumbledore had retired as Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Minerva McGonagall had taken over for him. However, Dumbledore had not completely removed himself from the school, and it was rumored that he still gave McGonagall advice on how to run it, even though she had been Deputy Headmistress in the past. Dan and Sirius both knew this was probably the reason she had chosen Dan for Head Boy, but even so, Sirius continued to stare at Dan, dumbstruck. In the end, Dan had to drag him onto the train, to short protests and mutterings of "why?" 

     Dan found Rush and Thien already in a compartment. He shoved Sirius, who had not yet fully regained his senses, onto a seat. It was then that Rush and Thien noticed the Head Boy badge, and were about as surprised as Sirius. Eventually, Dan resigned himself to the fact that he actually had to sit in the Head's compartment, and slowly made his way down the hall to his destination.

     Kate was already in the Head's compartment. As she sat there, she wondered who the new Head Boy would be. _He had better not be a slacker_, she thought; she was _definitely_ not doing all the work this year. _Of course he won't be_, she corrected herself. _McGonagall would only choose someone who she thought would be capable of the job. Still, I wonder who it is? _As if in answer to her unvoiced question, the door to the compartment slid open ... and there stood her worst nightmare.

     Dan stood in the doorway, staring at Kate. So _she_ was the new Head Girl.

     "I guess we'll be working together," Dan observed. Kate looked slightly sick. Even so, she managed to say,

     "I guess so..." she had a feeling that this would be a very long year.

* * *

     "Hi everyone who's been here before, and welcome to those of you that haven't," said Kate, eyeing a group of slightly apprehensive looking fifth year prefects, who seemed to be clumped together, as if using the safety-in-numbers strategy. It was Wednesday of their second week of school. Kate had called the first prefects meeting of the year, and everyone had gathered in the prefects commons.

     "Now, most of you know me already, but I'm Head Girl, Kate Longden, and this is the Head Boy, Dan Potter.  We'll get the boring stuff over with first..." Kate picked up some papers in front of her and began to go over the prefect's code of conduct. When she had said everything she had planned to say, Dan spoke up.

     "Ok, our meetings will be on the first Wednesday of each month. At the meetings, you'll sign up for hall patrol duty. We'll go over the schedule and make some changes, and you'll have the final ones for the month on Friday at breakfast." He picked up the sign up sheet and showed it to everyone. Kate got up from her armchair and stood behind the couch Dan was sitting on so that she could look over his shoulder. She was quite impressed that he had taken charge of the scheduling like that. _He might actually be good at this_, she thought. _Wait! What am I thinking? Of course he won't! This is Potter we're talking about; only the biggest slacker of a prefect ever..._

     "I'll hang up the sign up sheet on that bulletin board over there, and you can sign up after the meeting is over. If the slot you signed up for is absolutely the only time you can patrol that week, make sure you mark that on there. And we'll try our best to put you with your friends; that'll make patrolling more fun," Dan explained. He got up and tacked the sign up sheet onto the bulletin board.

     "I think that's all for now, and we'll give you this month's schedule on Friday," Kate reported and dismissed everyone. There was a mad rush towards the sign up list, in attempts for people to get spots with their friends. When the last prefect had left the room, Kate said,

     "I guess we'd better edit that schedule now." Dan nodded, took the schedule off of the wall, and began to read over it. Kate sat down next to him on the couch and began to advise him on changes to make.

     "Oh, no, Megan Relheim and Zechariah Crabbe should NOT patrol on the same night! He's hated her gu – Hey!" Kate gave a sudden shout. Dan jumped slightly.

     "What?"

     "We should plan a Halloween party! I know the tradition is to have a feast, but I know something better to do! My aunt married a Muggle, and he said that on Halloween in the Muggle world, kids dress up in costumes and walk around their neighborhoods. They ring their neighbor's doorbells and when the people come to the door, the kids say "Trick or Treat!" Then the people in the house give the kids candy. It's really for younger kids, but since most people here have never experienced it, I bet it would be fun! We could have the feast, and then stock each teacher with candy, and the kids can go to each classroom and get candy. Then we can have little parties in each common room for afterwards, so that everyone can trade their candy." Kate was beaming. Dan could tell she already had her mind set on doing this, and he could do nothing but help her plan it. 

     "Ok, sounds like fun. So, we'll ask the teachers about this, and we'll lots of candy right?"

* * *

     "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Push your teacher overboard and listen to 'er scream!"

     "Remind me again why we had to bring him along?" Kate whispered crossly.

     "He knows exactly how to get us what we want," Dan explained. It was October 25. The teachers had approved the Halloween party plan, and now Kate, Dan, and Sirius were going to get the candy that they needed. The teachers had offered to handle this, but Dan had insisted they would do it themselves. Now, all three of them were under Dan's invisibility cloak, which he had inherited from his father, and Sirius kept singing under his breath.

     "Deck the halls with kerosene, fa la la la la la la la la. Light a match and watch it gleam, fa la la la la la la la la. Watch your school burn down to ashes, Fa la la la la la la la la. Aren't you glad you played with matches? Fa la la la la la la la la!"

     Kate rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Suddenly, Dan, who was leading, stopped, causing Kate to bump into him, and Sirius to bump into her.

     "Where are we?" she asked as she regarded the painting of a bowl of fruit in front of her.

     "You'll see," said Dan, as he began to do something to the pear in the picture.

     "Are you... tickling it?" Kate whispered. Dan nodded, and as he did, the pear turned into a door handle, which Dan pulled open.

     "Come on." He beckoned them into the high ceilinged room. Once all three were fully inside, they pulled off the invisibility cloak. Almost instantly, four house elves appeared before them.

     "Good evening Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, and the lovely lady they have brought with them. What may Dobby do for you today?" asked one of them with a deep bow. To Kate's enormous surprise, Sirius addressed him.

"Hello Dobby, we need some help. Those two," he motioned to Kate and Dan, "are planning a Halloween party, and we need some supplies." Apparently, the house elves knew exactly what "supplies" were, because within a few seconds, there were many house elves before them, each carrying a different bag of candy. Kate, Dan, and Sirius loaded the candy into a bag they had brought with them. 

When they were done, Sirius added, almost as an after thought, "Could we have some Jello?" The randomness of the request did not surprise Sirius' companions, nor did it seem to phase the house elves, who brought out several small plates of Jello, each in a different flavor. Sirius wasted no time in choosing the cherry flavored one. The house elves stood and watched him as he ate, apparently in case he wanted more. 

When he was finished, he asked, "Have you guys ever tried this stuff?" The house elves' eyes widened and they shook their heads, as though it would be a crime to do anything of the sort.

"Well try it then," urged Sirius. The house elves had no power over human order, so slowly and mechanically, they began to eat their Jello. Dobby was the first to be done.

"Wow, Mr. Black, sir, Dobby thinks that Jello is the best thing he ever tasted!" Some of the other house elves who had finished nodded in agreement. Sirius spoke in a secret agent voice.

"Base, this is Black reporting. Mission accomplished." (A/N: Oh man, that's sooooo corny! But I couldn't think of anything else, so we'll just have to survive with it.)

* * *

     "Thank goodness we didn't have to bring _him _this time," said Kate, referring to Sirius. She and Dan were under the invisibility cloak again, for the second time in two days. This time, however, they were headed in the opposite direction of the kitchens.

     "Stop stepping on me!"

     "Sorry, I can't! I'm trying to read the map!"

     "We'll, it's not going to help much since you're holding it upside down!"

     "Ohhhhhhh, I was wondering why the writing was upside down!"

     As Kate turned the map right side up in her hands, she wondered how Dan's grandfather had been able to come up with ink that would update itself instantly. It was really amazing if you thought about it. Even though Dan's grandfather was dead (A/N: *tear* Jamsie!), it still continued to update itself. At the moment, she and Dan were using it to find the way to the statue of the one eyed witch without getting caught. Dan had talked Kate into going to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade with him to get more candy for the Halloween party.

     "All right, this is it," Dan informed her. "_Dissendium!_" Dan spoke the spell, and the statue's hump opened to admit them into the passageway within. One after the other, they slid into the passage and stood up. Kate, who had never been in the passage before, hit her head as she stood up.

     "Ouch! It's really dark in here..." She took out her wand and lit it. "There, that's a little better." At least now she could see where she was going. "Ok, come on, we have to make this quick so that we can get back before anyone notices we're gone." The security at Hogwarts was probably tighter now than ever, since Voldemort continued to make appearances at inopportune moments, which often resulted in the world's population declining by a few people.

     "They won't notice. I've done this about a million times and they never notice," Dan said dismissively.

     "Well, you're just the master of deception then, aren't you?" (A/N: Another stupid comeback, I'm not being inspired with anything better.)

     "You know it," said Dan as they continued to walk down the long, earthy tunnel. After what seemed like a year, but in reality had only taken about twenty minutes, they reached a trapdoor that would lead them into the cellar of Honeydukes. They listened for a moment, to make sure no one was there. When they were sure the coast was clear, they took off the invisibility cloak and left it on the ground. Then, they pushed the trapdoor open and Dan climbed out first. There was no one in the cellar as far as he could tell, so he motioned for Kate to follow him. She did, and they climbed the stairs together. They reached the top and swung the door open quietly. As they slipped out, they could hear a woman behind the counter saying, "How many Fithing Withbees would you like to buy?" in a very nasally monotone. It was all the two could do to keep from laughing.

     "Would you like frieth with that?" Dan imitated the woman's voice. Kate burst out laughing. Dan grinned and began to grab a few types of candy off of the shelves. Some of them were good ideas, like the Sugar Quills, but some, like the Cockroach Clusters, Kate vetoed ("Who'd actually _eat_ those?"). There were not really many people their age in the store on this Saturday morning, since they were mostly all in school. There were lots of younger kids and a few adults in the shop however, so they weren't alone. They shopped around for about a half an hour, and then went up to pay for their selections. The same woman with the nasally voice and the lisp was there.

     "Ith thith your final order?" she asked flatly. Kate had to duck down to get out the money to keep herself from laughing. She quickly paid the woman, and she and Dan pretended to walk out the store exit. They waited until the saleswomen was busy with another customer, and then snuck back through the door to the cellar. Quietly, Dan opened the trapdoor and climbed down into the passage, carrying their bags of candy with him. Kate followed him, and they started back down the tunnel. It took them a slightly longer time to get back to Hogwarts than it had taken them to get to Honeydukes, considering they now had the bags of candy to carry. When they reached the other end of the tunnel, Dan gave Kate a hand up so that she could get out. As he did, a thought crossed his mind. For the first time since he had known her, he had made her laugh.

* * *

     "Trick or treat!"

     "Here's a Chocolate Frog for you, and a Sugar Quill for you!"

     The Halloween party was a great success. The students were loving it so much, they were even knocking on the doors of broom closets, asking for candy. In response to this, Kate had stationed all the prefects at various doors to bathrooms and closets. It was a good thing they'd bought a lot of candy, because it ended out that they needed almost all of it. Kate was standing at the door of a closet, which held various cleaning supplies, handing out the last of her candy to some second years who seemed to have gotten into the spirit quite easily.

     "Trick or treat!" Dan came striding up her station. She had had him walking around, just to make sure everything was going smoothly. Now that people were beginning to retreat to their common rooms to trade their candy with each other, there was not much for him to do. Kate handed him the basket that the candy had been in.

"Hey!" he protested. Kate pulled a chair out of the closet and closed the door behind her. She sat down on it. Dan just stood next to her, and they watched the last of the die-hard trick-or-treaters round up what was left of the candy.

"Well, that was actually successful!" Kate said excitedly. "I think we should do it again next year."

"I guess you've earned your reputation as Head Girl," he said. She glanced at him. He was actually being serious for once, even though he had a smile on his face.

"You haven't done so bad yourself," she pointed out. As soon as she had, she thought, _did I just compliment Dan? On purpose?_

He grinned and said, "I'm glad you think so." He put the candy basket over her head like a hat and patted it affectionately before he walked away. Kate slowly removed the basket from her head, and watched him go. As she did, she thought about what she had said, and wondered how he had managed to grow up so much in such a short amount of time...

****

Wow! It took me a really long time to update, but I made up for it with a pretty long chapter by my standards. The ending is kind of in a bad place, but even so, I think it's my favorite chapter so far. Review and tell me what you think!


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